Father and Son Convert Their Motorcycle to Electric for About $3,000

BY ALEXANDRA GAUTHIERLEDGER CORRESPONDENT

Wednesday

Jan 28, 2009 at 10:10 PMJan 28, 2009 at 10:49 PM

"Converting a car is very expensive; it typically costs about $10,000 to $15,000 to convert a car, with all the research I did," he said. "It's about $3,000 that we spent, so it was like 'OK, that's a less expensive way to do it.' "

Fed up with spending at least $40 a week just to drive his Nissan truck to and from work, Donald Higginbotham, 53, enlisted the help of his 26-year-old son Andrew to build an electric motorcycle.

"About a year ago I started getting interested in it, and so we thought about it," Don Higginbotham said. "You can't buy them. They just do not exist. Or I shouldn't say they don't exist, but there's nobody locally that carries them. So you'd have to really want to do one."

"Converting a car is very expensive; it typically costs about $10,000 to $15,000 to convert a car, with all the research I did," he said. "It's about $3,000 that we spent, so it was like 'OK, that's a less expensive way to do it.' "

Electric motorcycles are sold by only a handful of companies in the United States, and those that can be bought usually cost around $8,000.

Both Don and Andrew Higginbotham have owned motorcycles since their senior years of high school, and their bikes have always been an integral part of their lives. But besides maintenance and minor repairs, neither of them had ever done much work on motorcycles.

Yet for three months, the father and son spent their Saturdays converting a Suzuki RF 900 motorcycle into their own electric one. They took out the engine, transmission and radiator, and replaced them with electric components purchased from Electric Motorsport in California, which imports many of its parts from Spain. With a few other minor adjustments, including adding a bracket to support two of the motorcycle's six batteries, the Higginbothams' bike was born.

Except for the welding of the bracket, the Higginbothams did all the work by themselves, using only hand tools.

"I had wanted to build a motorcycle, but this was the closest he would let me get to building one on his budget," Andrew Higginbotham said. "To me it wasn't that hard, because I'm mechanically-inclined, I guess you'd say."

"The hardest part would probably be figuring out where stuff is going to go, laying it out and figuring what you're going to build before you build it, or how it's going to work when you build it. The building part is the easy part,'' he said.

Don Higginbotham rides the electric motorcycle to and from work, just over eight miles round trip, three to four times a week - when the weather cooperates. He estimates that it costs him 15 cents to 20 cents for each day he uses it.

The motorcycle can be plugged into any regular outlet, and takes about five hours to charge after Don's commute, or 12 hours to 18 hours to charge fully if the motorcycle has gone its limit of 35 miles before the batteries die. The batteries are supposed to be good for 300 to 500 cycles or charges, and so far they have only been through 50 cycles.

"You've got about 35 miles. It's kind of amazing how you keep up with it, because the whole time you're riding it you have to realize that 'OK, when I get to about 10 or 15 miles I have to turn around and start heading to home,'" Don Higginbotham said.

Besides having to worry about draining the batteries, for which he always carries an extension cord with him, there is the fact that the maximum speed is only 55 mph, making it unsafe for highways, Don Higginbotham said.

Don Higginbotham is the head of the networking department at the Marriott Vacation Club in Lakeland. He received a bachelor's degree in building construction from the University of Florida about 30 years ago and has more than two decades of experience in construction. Andrew Higginbotham, a former firefighter, has also dabbled in construction and mechanics for much of his life.

Yet, they attribute their ability to convert the motorcycle to two things: the Internet and "American Chopper."

"There are so many different Web sites out there, guys who have done it," Don Higginbotham said. "That was very helpful, because the basic concepts are the same."

"Learning or seeing most of the stuff and how to do it was honestly watching 'American Chopper,' " Andrew Higginbotham said. "I've just about watched every single episode of it. They say you can't learn anything off of TV, and well maybe not, but I had the tools and I had never done it before and it worked."

As much as the men love motorcycles, they're aware of the dangers.

"Unfortunately, people don't see you, so I'd say that is the biggest disadvantage … If you ride a motorcycle long enough, you're going to end up getting hurt," Don Higginbotham said. "Pretty much everybody I know that's ridden them a lot has been in a wreck at some point in time."

While Don Higginbotham has never been in an accident, his son has.

"I wasn't hurt, but I wrecked my motorcycle, being an idiot. Going down a curvy road as fast as I could possibly could go, and I went too fast around a corner and it just fell out from underneath me and slid to the side of the road," Andrew Higginbotham said. "I didn't get hurt, it just messed the motorcycle up. I had to put it back together. I had to repaint it, put it back together, buy some more parts."

Despite the risks, the Higginbothams say they have no plans for changing their lifestyle.

"If you ride motorcycles you ride motorcycles. It's not logical, it's just fun. There's just something about riding a motorcycle. It's in your blood, and unfortunately you just end up keeping on riding them," Don Higginbotham said. "There's no logical explanation, no reasonable reason why you ride."

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.